Wang Yi, vice-minister of foreign affairs of China, summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Koreshige Anami on Saturday and made a formal representation to Japan about the issue of the Diaoyu Islands.
Wang Yi noted that the Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets have been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times.
"Any unilateral action on the islands by the Japanese side is illegal and invalid, which China will not accept," Wang Yi said.
"The Chinese Government and its people have an unswerving determination to safeguard the country's territorial sovereignty," he added.
Wang demanded the Japanese side correct its wrongdoings and stop any actions harmful to China's territorial sovereignty and the China-Japan relationship.
After the Japanese Government's move to "lease" the Diaoyu Islands was exposed, officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Department lodged a representation to the Japanese Embassy in China, requiring the Japanese side to clarify the matter.
(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2002)
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